About two months ago I bought the Magic Jack-- it's a real money saver. 

First, some background: DDFD has a teen daughter, a pre-teen step daughter, and a wife with a large group of family and friends to talk to.  About two years ago, we dumped the $25/month landline, relying on our cell phone plan-- it worked. However, the girls were starting to burn through the plan minutes and we got slapped with additional charges of an extra $15-25/ month-- my savings were evaporating.

I looked for an alternative and determined Magic Jack would do the trick-- it did.  My cell phone bill is incurring no new charges last month and this month is on track for none as well.

So how does Magic Jack work?  Easy, here's how:

• Buy the Magic Jack device (a USB device the size of a box of matches)
• Connect it to your computer
• Connect your regular phone to the Magic Jack
• Do the online registration (about five minutes)
• Start making calls

The dollars and cents?  The Magic Jack cost me $39 which includes year one's subscription, and each year thereafter is $19.00-- per year, not per month.

Drawbacks?  The device is a Voice Over Internet Provider (VOIP) so you need a computer with an internet connection.  Additionally, you need to register for 911 service and not all areas work.  Finally, you get a local number, but not necessarily your town.  Still the pros outweigh the cons in my situation.

Bottomline-- if you dumped the landline, this is a great way to manage you cell phone plan and I highly recommend it.

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